Phoenix Down
by Midorima Kazunari
Summary: Ten years after the incidents in 'Enemy Skill Materia,' a new threat rises up against Vincent, Reno, and the gang.
1. Chapter 1 - Inciting Incident

Everyone alive will remember this day, remember where they were when the terrorists flew the Aeroship into the decommissioned reactor in Fort Condor. Vincent and I are eating dinner with our neighbors when the radio station we'd put on as background noise breaks into the programming and begins to tell the tale. The sounds of static over the radio, the occasional scream... it is all too horrific. Our dinner is abandoned on the kitchen table as we switch to the television, and spend the night huddle before the screen, staring numbly at the images. No one takes responsibility, but that doesn't stop the commentators from giving their opinions.

"Viewers, I cannot even begin to describe the situation to you, without comparing it to the events that began The Jenova War, eighteen years ago. I know that some of our viewers never experienced the horror of the Fall of Sector Seven, or the destruction of Midgar in Avalanche's battle against Shin-ra and Sephiroth, but our older viewers will remember…"

In the other room, I can hear Vincent on the phone with someone. I text Rude and Tseng, hearing back from both of them within seconds.

"I wasn't even alive. Do you remember the War, Reno?" Kia asks. She holds her sleeping newborn, Charlotte, to her chest, while her husband, Niko, looks at me for answers.

"Yes, I was there, so was Vincent, but he actually fought against Sephiroth. What that guy said wasn't true. Sector Seven wasn't the beginning of the war, and Sephiroth wanted to destroy everyone, Shin-ra just…"

"Cloud's asking we form parties to go to Fort Condor tomorrow," Vincent interrupts as he strides back into the room. "He's been told the Mako energy levels are dangerously high for anyone who hasn't previously been exposed. Will you come with me? Nanaki's already on his way here."

"Of course," I say.

"I don't understand what's going on," Kia whines.

"No one does, darling, no one," I tell her.

* * *

I send all the leftovers home with our neighbors when they finally leave at midnight. Even if I was hungry, it doesn't matter because in the morning we'll be on our way to Fort Condor. I'm so on edge, sure that there will be a next attack that I have to get Vincent to hit me with a Sleep spell so that I can get some rest as we wait for Nanaki to arrive.

I'm awoken in the middle of the night, not by Vincent's gentle words or Nanaki's bristled tongue, but by angry shouts as our front door is kicked open. I sit up, but I'm so out of it that I can't find my Electro-Mag Rod. Someone – not Vincent – grabs me by the arm and drags me out of bed. I hear glass break, and looked down to see the photograph of Vincent and me that sits on the bedside table is shattered. Someone else forces me down the stairs. I'm dressed in only my sleep shorts. My face is shoved into the dirt and a foot steps on my back between my shoulder blades, as someone else attempts to tie my hands back with a plastic band. The person pushes my left arm down.

"Dude, my arm doesn't bend like that. It's been broken too many times." I fight against them, and he changes the angle. At least that means I'll be able to get out of these restraints, but I'm still trying to shake off the effects of the Sleep spell and I'm seeing halos of light around everything.

"This one is Reno of the Turks," someone yells, I turn my head his way; he is a blurry silhouette against the flashing lights of the Midgar Self-Defense Force. I relax, these are the good guys; there must be some sort of mistake. They know who I am; this can be cleared up quickly.

"I'm just an electronics repairman now, yo," I say, trying to keep it calm. "I haven't worked for Shin-ra in a long time."

"Shut your mouth," someone mutters.

The ground shakes as a transport vehicle pulls up, its brakes squealing. There's no way I'll allow them to put me in that.

"Where's Vincent Valentine?" a female voice asks from the other side. I turn my head and the foot puts more weight on my back, filling my mouth and nose with dirt.

"Lay off man, I'm trying to answer the lady's question," I spit.

"She wasn't speaking to you," the goon on top of me answers.

"Let him speak," she says. The sound of breaking glass comes from above me; the smell of Assassin's Tears is so strong.

"Sounds like you found the liquor cabinet. I'm coming off a Sleep spell, give me a break," I say, shaking my head. "He was here when I went to bed –"

Running feet clunk on the stairs above me, but I don't dare look around again. "I found a note, ma'am," a new voice says, he's out of breath. "It says: 'Reno, I've gone to meet Cloud. I should be back before you wake up, but if not, you shouldn't worry.' It is signed V."

"I don't know what you guys want, but he'll be back soon. Cloud lives over –"

"Cloud Strife lives over The Seventh Heaven with Tifa Lockhart," the woman says. She's reading the information off of a tablet.

There is a loud noise from upstairs and I flinch, trying to look up. The foot grinds down on me and grabs a hold of my ponytail; he wrenches my head backward.

"Stop resisting, or I'll snap your fucking neck." I close my mouth, and eventually he lets my hair go.

"Fucking terrorist," he says.

"What?"

"Shut up, Portkins," the woman orders.

* * *

I'm not sure how long I've been in this undignified position when I hear the reassuring sound of Cerberus' hammer cock to the ready; I snicker.

"Valentine," says the female leader.

"What?" I say.

"Shut up smart ass," the guy holding me down demands.

"Reno, close your mouth," Vincent growls. I hold my tongue, but only because I like it when Vincent gets all bossy.

"What do you want with me?" Vincent's voice comes from another direction. He's in the air, skipping along the rooftops; they might have come for Vincent, but they are playing with his badass mode now.

"We are here on behalf of the Midgar Self-Defense Force. We have received a tip that you are in possession of illegal Materia."

"Are we not presumed innocent?"

"Not after the attack on Fort Condor. We've learned that a Mastered Materia was used in the bombing."

"We are not responsible for the attack," Vincent calls from above us; a searchlight swings to find him, but he is already gone. I dislocate my right thumb and slip the restraints down so that I am holding them with my fingertips. It will only be a matter of flicking it away. Then all I'll have left to deal with is the guy holding me down, but his attention is on Vincent, and rightly so.

"Be that as it may –" In the distance, Nanaki's roar echoes off the empty streets.

"Um, excuse me," Kia interrupts. She's holding her baby and Niko is right behind her. A chorus of guns are cocked and aimed at them.

"They're civilians!" I scream. The guy above me, picks up his foot and slams me into the ground, knocking the breath from me.

"We were having dinner with Reno and Vincent when the first reports came in. We are their alibis."

"Then this won't be hard, Valentine. Come down and we'll have you back to your homes in a matter of hours."

"Reno, Vincent," Nanaki speaks from the darkened alley.

"Red XIII, you were also mentioned in the tip. Come peacefully and no one needs to be harmed."

"And where would you take us?" Nanaki asks.

"To our headquarters on Ultima Street."

"Let Reno up, allow him to get dressed, and we will take our own vehicle there. There is no way we're getting in your transport, it's not going to happen, but we will allow you to escort us."

"That's not gonna –" the jerk above me says.

"Agreed," their leader responds. "You may get him clothing, but he stays here."

"I'll watch Reno," Nanaki offers.

Vincent leaps to the landing, and the troops around him quail. I chuckle, earning another shove. He disappears into our home and comes back a few moments later with a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, socks, and sneakers. He has my Electro-Mag Rod in his hand. It's charged for the first time in months, in anticipation of possible looting and rioting in and around Fort Condor. Vincent walks straight up to the man holding me down, and behind him Nanaki growls low at the rest of the squadron, watching our backs.

"Stand down, Portkins," the woman tells him. As he steps back, I slip out of the restraints and get to my feet. I brush dirt off of my chest and legs and then dress in front of them. I shove my feet into the shoes, but don't bother tying them.

"I'll get the truck," I offer, and walk into the garage, making all the goons have to choose between even more targets. The keys are in the truck and it starts after the third attempt to turn over. I pull out and look at the scene in front of me.

"Hey, sexy, you need a lift?" I ask Nanaki. He laughs and jumps into the bed.

"Do you need both of our neighbors, or will one be sufficient to prove our innocence?" Vincent asks.

"One will do. We don't want to inconvenience the baby."

"Niko?" I say, and he looks like he's gonna piss his pants. Kia hands him Charlotte and she gets into the truck and slides over on the bench seat until she's next to me. Vincent gets in next and closes the door.

"Alright, sunshine, lead the way."

* * *

A/N: I hope you like this sequel to Enemy Skill Materia. This is an eight chapter (complete) story and will be posted every Tuesday. Please review!


	2. Chapter 2 - Martial Law

I pop a piece of gum in my mouth.

"You're a brave woman, Kia," Vincent says.

"You won't let them harm me." She shrugs. I offer her a piece of gum and she shakes her head. Great, now I'm the only one who smells like fake lemon.

"Gum makes you look unintelligent, Reno. Perhaps now is not the best time."

"It's that or a cigarette, Vincent. Your choice."

"You haven't smoked in eight years and two hundred and forty days."

"While creepily accurate, I still keep a pack in the truck for days like these." I open the ashtray and there is a crushed pack. He picks it up and throws it out the window.

"Be careful, Vincent, they'll get you for littering too."

"What do you have equipped?" he asks.

"Just the normal stuff. I've got the Mastered Restore and Revive, two level three HP pluses, and two level two MP pluses in my Electro Mag Rod, and that partial Enemy Skill, a level two Luck Plus and level one Final Attack/Phoenix combo my Bolt Armlet. You?"

"I was working on leveling up some Materia for Denzel's birthday, but nothing I'm carrying is more than a level two. And you, Nanaki?"

"Everything I'm carrying is Mastered. I didn't come to help Fort Condor without the proper equipment."

"This might be awkward," I say, whistling.

Vincent pulls out his phone and dials. "It's me, we've been detained by the Midgar Self-Defense Army. What can you do for us?"

* * *

Vincent finishes the phone call as we pull up in front of their headquarters.

"I can't believe you don't have air-conditioning in this piece of junk," Kia complains; she's coping well under the stress.

"I'm just too lazy to be bothered, besides it's nice out tonight."

"Let me do the talking," Vincent says, and gets out of the truck.

"Like that's gonna happen," Kia snarks, scrambles out of the cab, and I let down the tailgate to make Nanaki's descent less threatening.

"Vincent wants to do all the talking." I smirk.

"We'll be here all night then. We need to get on the road," Nanaki says.

"We'll take the helicopter."

The woman and Portkins are out of their vehicles, waiting for us as we step away from the truck. "This way," she barks.

"Madam –"

"Major Gatis."

"Major Gatis," Vincent continues. "We don't want to be distrustful, but we've had bad experiences in the headquarters of authorities. Perhaps your superiors would be willing to come to us –"

"I'm already here," booms a voice from the top of the stairs. "I'm General Tasan, and I apologize for dragging you out tonight, but we have to take every tip seriously. You gentlemen have been accused of owning illegal Materia on the very day Fort Condor was destroyed. We would be remiss if we didn't follow up on it, even with two heroes of the Jenova War, but especially with a former Turk. And Kia Denava, we are so sorry to drag you away from your baby tonight."

"Yes, sir," Kia responds, smiling.

"We'll handle this as quickly as possible. Major Gatis will use a Sense Materia on each of you. I may ask to see a suspect Materia, and once you've proven the tip is unwarranted, we'll send you on your way."

Gatis approaches us and casts Sense. "Valentine isn't carrying anything of concern. Reno's carrying two Mastered Magic Materia, and Red XIII is carrying one Mastered Summons and two Mastered Magic Materia."

"I have dispensation from the University of Cosmo Canyon, which holds a reciprocity agreement with Midgar University. I am allowed Materia for research purposes," Nanaki tells them. "And I would prefer you not use the name I was enslaved with. My true name is Nanaki."

"Of course, Professor, update his records," the General instructs. "Please allow us to catalog your Materia, and confirm that nothing you hold is on the banned list. If it is, we'll have to escort you to the town limits."

Nanaki removes his three suspect Materia and presents them. "I'm using Phoenix, Barrier, and Restore – all of which I brought for the rescue effort at Fort Condor. My friends and I would already be on our way there, if you hadn't stopped us.

"Of course, I'm so sorry, and our interrogation is almost at an end. We won't keep you any longer than we have to in order to get to the bottom of this."

"And you, Reno formerly of the Turks. What are you carrying?" He turns to me with a curious smile. I'm his last hope for an arrest.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I have a prescription. It's in the truck. May I get it?"

"Of course, please do," he gestures, like some gracious host.

I saunter over to the truck and rummage around in the glove box until I find a laminated card from my doctor. "You'll find it all in order."

"Very well, just allow us to confirm them, and you can be off."

"Reno," Vincent warns.

"It'll be ok for a second or two, right?" I ask, a weak smile plastered on my face. "You guys need to be quick though, ok? These are essential to my well-being. See, it says so right here." I point to the statement on my card.

"Of course." The Major stands in front of me as I pop Revive out of my armlet and hold it in my right hand. It hasn't been unequipped in almost three years and my hand shakes in an embarrassing way as she confirms its identity. I equip and sigh. Vincent steps up behind me and takes my left elbow to hold me steady as I remove Restore. It is set to cast automatically when my health takes a dive and without it… I stifle a cough, but I know Vincent's heard it. He's far too close to not. It feels like the Materia is gone for eons, not seconds, and by the time she signals that she's done, I'm so dizzy I can't think properly. Vincent turns my right hand over and sandwiches the Materia between my hand and the armlet. He pushes until I realize what he wants and I equip.

I'm hit with three separate healing spells as Vincent, Nanaki and my own Materia activate at once. I wipe blood from under my nose and spit out a glob of something. Vincent stares at me, but doesn't ask the obvious.

"I'm fine," I say, clearing my throat.

"What's wrong with you? Is it contagious?" she asks. She's old enough to remember Geostimga, and I'd be sympathetic if she hadn't just hurt me so bad. There's still blood in my mouth, but I refrain from swallowing so I can smile at her knowing my teeth are coated with the stuff.

"It's a little late to ask about that, sweetheart."

Vincent is the only thing holding me up, so I'm relieved when the attention leaves me, and everyone watches three World Regenesis Organization vehicles turn on to the street. Reeve jumps out of the lead car, before it completely stops. He looks like he hasn't slept in days, but when doesn't he?

"Vincent, Nanaki, Reno," he shouts, a hand raised in greeting.

"Thank you for coming," Vincent replies.

"General," Reeve begins; he moves to stand between Vincent and Nanaki. "You have no authority to detain members of the WRO –"

"Mr. Tuesti, following the incident, Martial Law was declared. It is my duty to the citizens of Midgar to follow-up on any lead that might protect the people living in and around Midgar. It's shameful what we had to put your men through, but clearly, we can say no laws were broken."

Reeve looks at Vincent for his next clue and all he sees in his eyes is anger. "Vincent, Nanaki, and I are all Veterans of the Jenova War, we deserve a little more respect than to be dragged out of bed in the middle of the night. Did you consider knocking and asking?"

"We did knock," Portkins answers, "but the Turk didn't answer."

"I was under a Sleep spell so I could get a quick few hours while we waited for Nanaki to meet us."

"We didn't know that," Portkins continues. "All we knew was that there were two dangerous men – whether you were terrorists or not – with last known addresses in that apartment."

"Frankly, I was surprised the information turned out to be true," the General confesses. "A Turk still living in Edge after what Shin-ra did to Midgar? To the Planet? You're lucky no one has dragged him out before now and shot him dead in the street like a beast."

He's right, of course, and it's not like I've hidden my identity, but Vincent doesn't like what's implied in the threat. He passes my support onto Reeve, and steps between me and the General.

The moment breaks when Reeve's phone rings, and he has to check the caller ID. "Cid's at the Aeroport waiting to take you to Fort Condor. Perhaps we can finish this another time."

"If we're done here, let's go, we're wasting time," I say. "We need to take Kia home – since we screwed up her night – and I've gotta change and get my gear. I can't fight mutated monsters in jeans and sneakers." Vincent doesn't wait for permission, but he stalks back to the truck and opens the driver's side door. "Kia, would you mind driving?"

"Ok," she says, moving to the driver's seat.

Reeve hands me a Mega-Potion as we slowly approach. I gulp it down, despite my hatred of the fake cherry gyshal flavor. Nanaki launches into the bed of the truck.

"You have all the rare shit, Reeve, no fair." I take the middle seat this time and Vincent takes the passenger window, Cerberus resting on his knee.

"Are you ok now?" he asks.

"I'll make it home at least."

"We'll escort you to make sure there is no further interference," Reeve says into the open window.

"Wait," the Major calls as Kia puts the truck in gear.

"My brother was at the Fort, can I – "

"Oh, hell no," I mutter under my breath.

* * *

With all the arrangements made to meet the Major and Portkins at the Aeroport, we head home. Kia drives very carefully, while the three WRO vehicles make me feel a little more secure. When we are finally away from the unfriendly eyes (less than a block from home), I lean into Vincent's shoulder and wait for my strength to return.

"I didn't know it would be that bad," I admit.

"It's been years since you've been without those Materia. It makes sense that your condition has deteriorated over time."

"Eventually they won't –"

"We're here," Kia announces.

The WRO boys wait outside. I'm super slow on the stairs, but no one complains. The door is still wide-open, but when I get to the top of the stairs, I see Niko is in the main room with a broom, sweeping up the shattered glass. Everything is in ruins.

"Where's Charlotte?" Kia asks.

"On the bed in a pillow fort. I figured this was the least I could do, since I chickened out," he says, looking at his feet. Kia begins working on the pile of soaking wet books by the couch. They are blue with the remains of the last bottle of Assassin's Tears.

"Thanks, Niko."

Vincent disappears into the shop. I kick over a pile of broken dishes and find my ribbon and a loose green Materia. I bend to collect them both, fighting off the dizziness. The newly born thunder Materia isn't something I'll need right now, so I turn to put it back in my box, but the wood is shattered and laying on the floor. I wander off to the bathroom and our hidden stash of Materia. I lift the back of the toilet tank away and take out the water-proof container. I get my Lightning and Vincent's Comet and the completed Enemy Skill Materia, all of which are illegal now.

"They might scan us again," Nanaki warns.

"I don't really care –"

"I might allow Galian Beast to rip their heads off this time," Vincent growls as he comes through the door.

"The shop must be bad."

He nods.

I find my pack has been emptied on the floor next to the couch, so I sag into its wet cushions and stuff the contents back in. After that's done, I stumble into the bedroom, only remembering that Charlotte is in there when I almost wake her. I pick up the broken frame and run my fingers along the slash in the middle of the photo. I'm so angry, I could…

I still fit in my Shin-ra issue, so the navy pants and white button down are no brainers; I need to be able to fight, so I wear the uniform. I look a little less pale than I figure I feel when I retrieve my goggles from the bathroom mirror and settle them on my head. At least I can pretend I don't want to lay down and die. I take my first deep breath since the examination of my Materia, and I feel like I can almost completely inflate my lungs; I'm better off than the pain indicates. I come back into the main room and sit on the least broken kitchen chair to tie my boots.


	3. Chapter 3 - Rescue Parties

The Major and Portkins are waiting for us at _The Shera's_ berth. The ship is a welcome sight after a night full of hate-filled glares and shock and awe tactics. I trot up the gangplank to where my sister, _The Shera's_ namesake, is waiting.

"Ya order two Midgar Self-Defense goons?" Cid calls over the side.

"We need all the boots we can get on the ground, right?" I try to smile. Shera pulls me in for a hug, and I fall into her embrace, hiding in her hair.

"You look like shit, Reno."

"I know."

"Reno needs rest," Vincent tattles on me.

"Take the hammock in the hold." She allows the others on, and Vincent and I head to the back. Once we are past the prying eyes of the MSDA goons, I stop pretending everything is alright. Vincent puts an arm around my waist and throws my arm over his shoulder; he practically carries me to the hammock.

"It hurts, Vincent, it hurts a lot." I put pressure on the right side of my ribs and it subsides a little. He gives me another potion, but it only takes a bit of the edge off.

"Is the Materia activating properly?"

"Yeah, but it's still catching up as well. I went downhill faster than I thought I would. It was... surprising."

"I'm not ready to lose you yet, you cocky son of a bitch, so next time, let's fight together."

"I'm not ready to go anywhere, but you've got to let me sleep now, or I won't be worth shit when we get to Fort Condor."

"I can't convince you to stay on the ship?"

"I won't be a burden, Vincent, we've discussed this. When I can't fight back anymore, it's game over. You'll put me down - you vowed - so now do the easy thing and hit me with a Sleep spell and wake me up when we get there."

* * *

Fort Condor should be a beautiful place, but the smoke is thick and requires Nanaki to constantly use his Barrier on us so that we can breathe. The others are waiting for us when we arrive.

"Hey partner, thanks for _finally_ joining us," Rude says, smirking at me.

"Well, I thought ya could take care of it, but I guess we'll need ta bail you out again, yo," I sass back.

Cloud looks on, unsure if he should be insulted.

"It's just Turk bravado," I hear Elena explain to Tifa.

"We need multiple parties on all fronts. It's a bigger disaster than we knew," Tifa says. "Cloud, Denzel, and I have been searching for survivors, but really, Denzel and I aren't strong enough to dig in the debris. All we've done is keep the monsters off him while he looks."

"You make that sound like nothing," Tseng answers her.

"Vincent," Cloud barks. "You, me and Nanaki should take search and rescue. We are the strongest." Vincent nods.

"What else needs doing?" I ask.

"Marlene and the Golden Chocobo First Aid Brigade arrived this morning. They'll need an armed escort in the field."

"I got that," Barret boasts.

"Take Tifa and Denzel. The Golden Chocobos are a large group, and you can't be everywhere," Cloud directs.

"Where can we be of use?" Tseng asks for us.

"I'd like three of you on crowd control from the North, and Cid, you take Yuffie and the leftover and go up the mountain. Gaia knows what those mutated Horns are doing."

"I'll take Reno, if you don't mind," Cid decides. Either for Shera's sake or Vincent's, he wants to keep an eye on me. I'm a little annoyed.

* * *

Once we're in the field, no one has time to take it easy on me. The Mako spills pour like rivers from the Fort, and even the Horn is more than it should be; Cid scans it.

"You've gotta be shittin' me? It's a fuckin' level ninety-nine, what the hell is this thing, Sephiroth?"

"Shut your mouth, Old Man," Yuffie shouts, "it's got Vagyrisk Claws to collect, and a whole lot of experience points to claim. I'm trying to upgrade Conformer's attack percentage, and this is the perfect opportunity."

"I'm sure no one cares how I feel about it, so let's kick its ass, and get home in time for dinner," I say, tapping the Electro-Mag Rod on my shoulder. I haven't had many opportunities to try out the new Electrostatic upgrade, so yeah, this could be good.

* * *

We return to camp after running down the last of the Grand Horns. The Golden Chocobos are set up and offering first aid to all of us as we return. All I need is a throat lozenge after spending all day in Cid's second-hand smoke, but I feel a thousand times better than I had last night, and that's all I want.

Cloud points me to a tent, and when I enter, Vincent is already there, cleaning Cerberus.

"What'cha get into today?" I ask, as I stop and kissed the top of his head. He looks me over. "I feel great, actually, so don't look so dour."

"You smell like cigarette smoke," he accuses.

"Thank your BFF for that. That motherfucker smokes more than any sane person should."

"I'll speak to him."

"You should or he'll end up like–"

"To answer your first question, we found eighteen children alive in the Fort's basement daycare. They'd been without food or water for about twenty hours, but most were exposed to highly toxic levels of Mako. Some of the children are burned, some have no hair; they all have glowing blue eyes. "

"Fuck."

"We found no adult survivors. There were one hundred and forty troops in the Fort, and another two hundred townsfolk – all of whom are presumed dead or are missing."

"Holy Jenova," I moan, and collapse into one of the two cots, my hands behind my head. "It's worse than I thought."

"It is… unreal."

I get up and drape myself over his back and just hold him.

* * *

Day two at Fort Condor, and no further survivors are found. We recover one hundred and three body parts. The WRO brings in squadrons to identify and bury the dead. When we are sure the beasts are cleared, I pick up a shovel and start digging graves. Vincent borrows a Barrier Materia for me.

Our whole group comes together for dinner, although most of the time, there is no conversation. Just being together makes us feel… a little less awful. In the makeshift cafeteria, Vincent is on my left and Nanaki on my right, when a man taps me on the shoulder.

"Sir, we're taking up a collection –"

I hand him all the money in my pocket. "I've got 1,000 Gil; I'll mail in more when I get home."

"No, sir, you misunderstand, I'm a wig maker and we're taking donations of hair for the children who were poisoned in the attack and lost theirs. Your ponytail would provide a child with hope. Actually, a few of you could make fine donations." He smiles at Vincent, Tifa, and Tseng.

I look at Vincent. I would have chopped off my hair long ago, if not for him.

"What's one more small sacrifice?" he asks.

"Wonderful, after you've finished with dinner, come to the purple tent."

I look at my meal and scramble it around my plate twice more before I push it away. "If you want the rest, help yourself," I tell Nanaki. Vincent follows me to the tent.

* * *

That night as I shower, I put way too much shampoo on my hair, which now barely touches my shoulders when not in a ponytail. It's so short I feel cold, despite the ridiculous heat. _But the length isn't the worst of it_ , I think as I stand before the portable camp sink in the hastily thrown together men's latrine/bathing facility so that I can shave away a day of peach fuzz. In the reflection of the small round shaving mirror, I can see myself and a row of shower heads, each surrounded by a thin curtain. Vincent is in the one directly behind me. At first I think it is just a trick of light in the poorly lit room or that if I could actually look at myself full on in a mirror instead of averting my gaze, I'd be able to see I'm just imagining things, but then I force myself to look closer, and I'm convinced I'm not hallucinating.

"Really?" I ask. "Not here too. My life is over, this is the end," I say, matter-of-factly.

Vincent rushes from behind the shower curtain, Cerberus drawn, pointing into the air as he looks for something to kill. "Please tell me it's not another mutant Malboro?"

"No, something much worse," I groan. He's so beautiful; naked, wet, and alert, he's as gorgeous as the day I met him, but the short hair and long bangs are remarkably sexy, and I just want to get lost in him and forget my woes. "It's too bad we have no privacy and have to sleep in separate cots again tonight," I leer.

"Reno," he warns. "What?"

"Look, Vincent, I'm officially old now. I have white hairs."

He grabs up one towel and puts it around his waist, tossing another over his left arm. He comes over to me and runs his wet fingers through my hair.

"What'll people say?" I ask. "They're gonna think I'm your sugar daddy or something."

"That would require you to make more money than I do," he teases. He traces the outline of the Cerberus keychain tattoo on my sternum. It's been there for almost five years, but it still fascinates him that I've marked myself with something so important to him.

"Then they'll think I'm a kept man," I snicker.

"I can't help –"

"I know." I stop him before he can apologize for his immortality one more time, and I slide into his arms.

"I…"

"You know, I think you may look a little older than you did when we first met, just a little bit, right around the eyes." I put my index fingers to the sides of his eyes and caress the little creases that are invisible now, but appear whenever he smiles.

"Are you saying I'm getting wrinkles?" There's the smile.

"I prefer calling them laugh lines."

"It's hardly fair to say I look different than at a time when we stood across from each other in battle in a dark, dank submarine."

"That was the second time we met. The first was in the sub-basement of Shin-ra Manor, when you came out of your coffin and helped Veld."

"You were there?"

"Yup, in the background. I was a no one then; don't feel bad for not noticing."

He sighs. I turn my head and clear my throat hard.

"Are you alright?

"Yeah, it's all the smoke in the air; it's nothing to worry about."

"When you cough…"

"Maybe after losing Chaos you're not immortal anymore, just very long-lived, like Nanaki. Maybe I'll be the death of you after all," I grin.

"One of these days I'll follow you into an adventure too big for even us, and we won't make it out; either that or you'll smother me in my sleep."

"Going out at the same time, huh? There are worse things. But, I couldn't sneak up on you with Preemptive Strike and Haste combined."

"True, you're getting slow in your old age. And what would you do without me? You can build a Digital Video Recorder from scratch, but you can't seem to program one when it comes to shows I'd like to watch. Yet, we have all five seasons of Junon's Next Star for some reason."

I shrug. "I could stay with Shera, Cid and, their children, but Cid smokes too much. Thank you for talking to him, by the way. He's stayed upwind of me since then."

"My pleasure."

"There's always your family. I could hang out with Tseng, Elena, and Jade, but really, 'Laney annoys me after a few days. Rude's out, too. I think I've matured past the booze, smokes, and S&M hooker stage of my life."

Vincent chuckles. "It only took you ten years."

"That stupid sticker must still be on me somewhere."

"You'd be hopeless without me."

"I'd have to go live with Nanaki."

"Until Deneh is free of the altar."

"I got another thirty years or so to worry about that. I probably wouldn't last long without ya." I see a shadow pass over his eyes, and I can't have that, so I grab his ass with both hands. "Well, I guess I'll keep you around then, Vincent. With an ass like this and a very, very long –"

"Reno!" He's scandalized, and looks around to make sure we are still alone.

"Gun," I say, and he shakes his head. "I was gonna say gun. I guess I'm gonna have to ask Shera what dye she uses. Ya know, it is really hard to dye red hair? But hers looks great."

"Shera dyes her hair?"

"Her hairs a lot darker than mine, so yeah, she dyes it."

"You vain thing," he whispers, and kisses my hairline where all the white hairs are clustered. "If you dye your hair and ruin the color, I won't forgive you."


	4. Chapter 4 - Placing Blame

"Turkey!" Yuffie calls to me from the other side of the site. She's known me for over a decade and we've been working together for almost three days in a row, yet she still refuses to use my name.

"What'cha want, princess?" I stand, clapping to knock some of the thick dirt off my work gloves. Every time I speak to her, I try to remember that Vincent's life was once saved by this… this Chocobo. Cloud's hair aside, the one that reminds me of the Planet's smallest-brained creature is always her.

"I think I found something," she says. Cid, Yuffie, and I have been scouring the debris field for the last six hours, turning over each bit of scrap metal, hoping to find a clue, or at least a personal effect, we can return to the hordes of people who have come to claim a loved one. Cid hears our conversation, and we both head in her direction.

"Was it a plane or a helicopter that hit the reactor?" she asks.

"A helicopter," Cid answers. "They said it was bright green."

"Well, I know this place was once a Shin-ra property, but didn't they remove all the branding and stuff years ago?"

"Of course they did. When Shin-ra folded, everything with their logo on it was considered anathema, but Yuffie, much as I love the trip down depressing memory lane, what does this have to do with the price of tea in Wutai?"

"Gaia, I want a cup of god-damn tea," Cid moans, taking off his gloves to light a cigarette. He moves upwind of me.

"Well, it's just that I found this," she says, pointing to something I should have seen sooner. It's there in all its psychotic glory – a door of a Shin-ra B1-Alpha.

"I thought all of those were scrapped and recycled long ago," Cid says, rubbing his hand over the three days growth on his unshaven chin.

"Shin-ra," Yuffie spits. "I bet you're glad to see it back, huh, Turkey?"

"Don't be an ass, Yuffie. He's on our side and has been for a long time."

"She's half right," I tell them. "I learned to fly on one of these. Flying was the best part of working for them, too bad it wasn't the only part." I grab the mangled piece of wreckage and drag it out into the clearing where we've put everything worth noting. The gnarled metal slices through the glove and into my palm. _One last injury,_ I think and then I go back to the search.

"Are you sure we should put that out there?" Yuffie asks. "People are going to blame –"

"Shut your mouth, Yuffie," Cid replies. "Hidin' shit like that was what Shin-ra did best. 'Sides, they coulda stolen a helicopter from anywhere and repainted it. No one said nuthin' about seein' a Shin-ra logo, and ya know if they had, it woulda been all over the MoogleNet by now."

* * *

The saddest thing I find is a stuffed Cactuar doll. It's not one of the fancy store-bought things, but one that was obviously made by hand. It's missing an eye and stuffing bleeds from it. I pull open my phone to call Nanaki, who's been helping out with the kids, when a young woman volunteer approaches me.

"You know, I used to have a picture of Rufus on my wall as a teenager," she says, blushing. "You were in it, too."

"Oh? I'm so sorry."

"What? Why?"

"That you idolized that douche bag. He raped me, multiple times." Her eyes go wide; I dial Nanaki.

"Can you check with your charges and see if anyone is missing a stuffed Cactuar? I found one in the debris field." The girl is still standing in front of me, so I wave her away, pointing at the debris field. She takes the hint.

"Of course, I'll call you back in a minute."

I'm standing there, holding the toy, when Major Gatis and her goon, Portkins, arrive to give us a break. I haven't seen much of either of them in the last few days, thankfully. She scans the debris we've already sifted through and then the small pile of things we've put aside. Her eyes fall on the Shin-ra logo, and then her attention snaps to me.

"It's always fucking Shin-ra's fault," she screams.

"Calm down, Major; remember his alibi cleared."

"It doesn't matter, they're all complicit. You always have some ready comeback. What do you have to say for yourself this time, Turk?" Her colorful language and loud, brash voice attracts a crowd.

"Did she say it was Shin-ra's fault?" someone loitering nearby asks.

I stare at the Cactuar; I have no words for her. She pushes her way past Portkins, rushing right up to me. She grabs the toy and throws it at my feet. "Hey, now, I'm hoping to get that back to its kid."

She slugs me a nasty right cross, and I stumble back.

"My niece hits better than that." She punches me again, harder.

"This might not be _your_ fault, but you've got enough red on your hands –" I bend down and retrieve the toy.

"You're right, I've got so much blood on my hands that I can never hope to wash it away, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't try."

"Why should you live while my brother, my parents…" she begins to cry silently.

"Were they all here?" I ask.

"No, Shin-ra murdered them when Sector Seven fell." I close my eyes and wait for another punch, but it seems she doesn't know that _was_ my fault.

"Even the good things Shin-ra did are worth nothing," I say. "Rufus mighta bankrolled the first Avalanche insurgency, but he only did it for his own good."

"You… how dare you say anything they did was good, you tool. You worked for them. You had a choice!"

"You don't know nothin' about the choices I had to make, or the filth I climbed out of to work there. You don't know anythin' about me, lady, but I'll tell you this: if anyone has a right to shit on Shin-ra's memory, it's me. Shin-ra's not the 'big bad' anymore. Someone, or a group of someones, did this, and bickerin' and pointin' fingers ain't gonna help. You wanna know who did this, then get your fuckin' hands dirty and start looking."

Portkins puts his hand on her shoulder and she shrugs him off. "I can't work with him here."

"That's fine," I say. "I've been here for almost seven hours and –" My phone rings. "Did you find the kid?"

"I did; we're at the Golden Chocobo tent."

"I'm on my way," I say and click off. I knock the dirt off the smiling toy and go toward its child. Maybe, I'll have them heal my hand while I'm at it.

* * *

Once I've had a shower, I go to the Chocobo tent. I show Marlene the slash on my palm, which is still weeping an hour later. One of her co-workers takes the toy to clean it up and give it back to its kid.

"It's the Mako in the air that keeps it from healing," Marlene tells me as she snips off the last stitch. It itches already. "It's a good thing you're not sensitive to it."

"How's the kid doing?"

"Which kid?"

"The one with the Cactuar."

"Ah, Clarden. Come and I'll show you."

I follow Marlene from the side tent where everything is loud and crazy to the makeshift hospital, where the only sounds are hushed voices, constant beeping, and the hiss of respirators. We walk past the open ward and walk deeper inside, where we have to go through a flimsy plastic sheet, which is zipped closed, and put plastic covers on our shoes.

"This is Clarden, the Cactuar Boy," she says. I don't see him at first because there are so many bandages that the green toy draws my eye immediately. "He hasn't woken up – which is a blessing – he needs to heal first, but we put the toy in his hand; he grabbed it and hasn't let go."

"He's so small. What happened to him?"

"He was so badly burned we had to amputate his legs. On top of that, he'll never see again."

"Fuck," I say. "Um, sorry."

"It's a word we hear a lot, Reno, and even though I don't like it, it is apropos."

"Yeah, well -" An alarm goes off nearby, and she begins walking away.

"Can you find your way out?"

"Yeah, no worries."

"Thanks again," she says and rushes out.

* * *

The next morning, all the volunteers meet in the cafeteria for weak coffee and a mission briefing. I'm hoping to work the debris field again, or at least do something that will make me so tired I can sleep soundly. The nightmares of Sector Seven are on a loop whenever I close my eyes.

"Alright, everyone, we've got a lot to do today," Cloud begins. He's got a clipboard in front of him, and he looks very out of place leading with anything other than a sword. As he looks down, the tent flap flies open.

"Dad, Mom!" At first I don't recognize the voice because it is so unexpected, but then I see Jade run into the space and behind her, Reeve scrambles in.

"Jade?" Tseng says as his little girl – well, not so little at seventeen – slams into his chest. Elena is up, and the three make a sandwich hug.

"What's going on, Reeve? It isn't safe for Jade to be here," he demands.

"It's not safe for her to be anywhere right now," Reeve pants, out of breath. "You haven't seen the news yet this morning?"

Rude grabs the remote and turns on the small portable television that's been in the corner, but off, all week. He doesn't have to change the channel, apparently it's on all of them. "…and we have another report out of Gongaga with an eerily similar incident. Eighteen former Shin-ra employees are dead after a mob dragged them from their homes in the early morning hours," a female reporter tells us.

"And that's not all, Clarice, already this morning we've heard of similar riots in Corel, Icicle, Kalm, and Rocket Town. All told, we have a death count of forty-two former Shin-ra employees. All we've been able to confirm is that this whole thing started with a rumor that the terrorist attack on the reactor in Fort Condor was perpetrated by a Shin-ra loyalist. At this time we cannot confirm that, and the WRO Commander Reeve Tuesti has condemned both the rumor and the actions of the mobs."

"Fuck Tuesti!" screams a man off camera at the scene. "He's Shin-ra scum!" They begin showing the badge photos of all the dead employees.

"I sent WRO troops to each of your homes when I got wind of what was happening," Reeve tells us. "They'd already destroyed Rude's condo, but we stopped them from getting into the 7th Heaven, and I personally went and picked Jade up from the university."

"Thank you, Reeve," Elena says.

"I don't know who would have started this unfounded rumor –"

"I do," I say, and everyone looks at me. "I was there when she started it yesterday in the debris field. So were Cid and Yuffie."

"Oh no," Yuffie says. "You're right! That woman blamed Shin-ra in front of all those people. I can't believe it spread like this."

"Who cares?" Major Gatis stands. "It's just a few dead Shin-ra rats."

"A few?" I shout. "How about forty-two, lady?" I take the remote from Rude and I back it up to the beginning of the litany of faces they've shown.

"This woman's name was Marge." I point at the screen. "She served coffee in the cafeteria and always made sure to save me a doughnut, 'cause she thought I was too skinny. She had three kids she was putting through school. Did she deserve to be dragged out of her home and beaten to death in the streets?"

"She should have –" I advance the screen again.

"This is Lucas. He had a brain injury as a kid and couldn't spell his own name, but Shin-ra gave him a job cleaning toilets. He was good at it. Did he deserve to die?" I demand, my voice shrill and ridiculous."I don't remember this guy's name –"

"Blake," Elena interrupts. "He was with the motor pool."

"And Emma, and Justice, and Harold," Tseng names the next three.

"That one was Franz, he was my secretary in Urban Development," Reeve adds. "He helped me re-build Edge, where you live, Major."

"I hope you enjoy the blood on _your_ hands, Major," I sneer, and I leave the tent because my blood pressure is so high I'm seeing double. Vincent is right behind me; he guides me to our tent and makes me sit down.

"Is there anyone else you need to contact?"

"No, Veld and Cissnei have been living under false identities for years now. They should be safe."

"Veld is alive?"

"Who do you think funds the WRO?"

"I assumed it was in Rufus' will," he says with a shrug. "In perpetuity."

"That douche bag? No way. If he had any Gil left at the end, he would have burned it instead of helping anyone. I want to get out in the debris and see if we can dig up the actual truth before anyone else gets hurt."

"Alright, I'll join you."


	5. Chapter 5 - Familiar Roles

Nanaki's call wakes me up from a troubled dream.

"Um, what?" I moan.

"Clarden…"

"He's dead, isn't he?"

"He returned to the Lifestream, yes."

I look over to the next cot, but Vincent is gone. His cape is still here, so I drag it over and wrap myself in it. It's dirty, but it smells comforting. "Did he ever wake up?"

"No," Nanaki says.

"Any word on his parents?"

"No, but there's a good chance they were waiting for him in the Lifestream."

"Hey, if no one else wants the cactuar, can I have –" The sounds of Cerberus firing fills the early morning quiet. I drop the phone and grab up my Electro-Mag Rod, running out of the tent wearing only a pair of sweatpants.

In the distance, I see Vincent leaping in the air, firing at another old Shin-ra helicopter repainted green. It dive bombs toward the wreckage of the reactor, but the bullets chase it back. I run toward the fight, ignoring my bare feet.

As I spring that way, I see Cloud launch into the air and slash at the helicopter as it tries again. The tail flies off and the chopper spirals away from the reactor and toward the chow tent. Out of nowhere, The Shera slices the morning smog and rams the craft away. Both ships tumble; The Shera rights, but the pilot of the enemy bird isn't as good as Cid, it hits in an empty field, burying its nose in dirt.

I'm half way there, but I hear more gunfire – not Cerberus' familiar sound, or even Barrett's supercharged ammo – and I run faster toward it. Denzel is down when I arrive, he's bleeding from his right arm, his staff is broken at his feet.

"What?" I scream.

"I don't know," he says through gritted teeth. He's not in any immediate danger, so I keep going. Tifa and Rude are fighting three men with guns. Vincent and Cloud engage a platoon of men armed with various weapons. Before I can decide who to join, a flash of orange-red careens by me, and Nanaki brings down one of the men facing Vincent and Cloud. I sprint left and take my place in between Tifa and Rude.

"You could have stopped to put clothing on," Tifa laughs at me.

"And deny all his fans the chance to look at him shirtless? Have a heart, Tifa," Rude jokes. "Hey, is that a new tattoo?" I'm not sure which one he's talking about, but I laugh anyway.

I cast Lightening 3/All combo, landing a good opening shot, then we each take an opponent. Tifa is magnificent. Even a decade after the first time I saw her fight, she's aggression and grace. All her moves hit with resounding cracks. Her foe staggers under the assault, but does not relent; he pulls a gun and shoots at her. Luckily he's a bad shot, but I can't take my eye off the jerk in front of me and his gun to help her.

The first bullet tears a chunk out of my left arm, right near the Shin-ra logo tattoo which has been covered up by a great big Bomb. I growl, raising my Electro-Mag Rod, slashing at him as he dances out of the way. The guy fighting my partner is big and Rude's slower than he was when we were in our twenties.

"What'cha doing, old man?" I taunt him. He cracks his neck and swigs a potion. He smiles and wades back in.

I hear a gun shot from behind and turn to see Tifa's on her knees, her opponent pulls back the hammer and aims for her head. I hurl the Electro-Mag Rod at him, making sure to activate the Taser's dead man's switch so that when it connects, it sends 100,000 Ohms through him. He thrashes on the ground. Tifa leaps to her feet and rushes to the man that's behind me, who's laughing like an idiot because he thinks that without a weapon I'm vulnerable. I sidestep as she arrives, and spin to watch as her hand glows a powerful golden light. She winds up and let's go with all she has, blinding me momentarily. He goes down, a complete K'O.

"You're bleeding," she notes, pointing at my arm.

"Yeah, you're looking a little rough too, but that last attack, that was pretty sexy, yo!"

"Don't flirt, Reno, we both have someone now, and it's not cute anymore."

"Who's flirting?" My hands fly up. "That was seriously impressive."

"Take the compliment," Rude suggests. "He doesn't give them out often, but when he does, he means it."

"Thanks, Reno."

I look at the lump of pulped flesh that was once Rude's target. "That had no finesse," I tease. I knock my Electro-Mag Rod away from the asshole who thought he could put a bullet in Tifa's head. He stops convulsing and lays inert. The rod crackles oddly when I pick it up, giving me a small shock, which I absorb, while pressing the dead man's release again. That should stop the electric flow, but it doesn't, and the energy hisses at me.

"Shit," I swear. I stomp the asshole on the ground. "Thanks for breaking my favorite weapon, fucker." I open the panel on the side and pop out the battery. It falls silent in my hands. "Well, old girl, I guess it's time for an upgrade. Twenty years with only a few rough moments… yeah, it's time to give you an overhaul."

"Cloud and the others are finished, let's bring this one with us. He might have information we need," she suggests.

* * *

Cloud has eyes only for Tifa when we arrive, dragging the fried foe.

"Are you alright?" Her eye is already swollen closed and the cut on her head couldn't be from anything other than a small caliber round at close range.

"Reno saved me, I was…, he had me dead to rights with a gun to my head."

"Don't listen to her; she was awesome, Cloud, she kicked my guy's ass, too. I'd been whacking at him forever, and she took him down with one punch, yo!"

"That's the one who shot me," Denzel snarls, and kicks the downed man. No one moves to stop him.

"Where's Vincent and Nanaki?" I ask.

"They're cleaning up the stragglers. Vincent hit his Limit Break early in the battle, and he plowed through the line."

"Galian Beast?"

"No, Gigas."

"I'd better get a tranquilizer ready then," I say, turning toward the tents.

"Nanaki has one and will take care of it once the battle's over," Cloud assures me. He looks at the man we've dragged with us. He crouches down and searches the guy's pockets. "He's not carrying anything, not even a wallet."

"Did you check for tattoos or other identifying marks?" Tseng asks as he arrives on the scene. He's dressed, but just barely, in flip flops, a t-shirt, and shorts. Only half of his face is shaved, but his hands and shirt are covered black with powder residue from his Quicksilver. Elena is with him.

"Jade?" I ask.

"She's volunteering with the Golden Chocobo. Barrett promised to look out for her."

"Good call."

Vincent and Nanaki come over the crest of the hill. I raise one hand, letting him know I'm ok. He raises his in reply. The guy groans, and all the angry glares fall on him.

"You want to tell us what this is all about?" Cloud asks, looming above him with the Fusion Sword in hand. He plants it a few inches from the asshole's head.

"I'll tell you nothing, infidel."

"Bring him," Tseng orders Rude. "We don't have time for this shit."

"Wait!" Tifa says. "You don't have to –"

"We've been trained for this sort of thing, Ms. Lockhart," Tseng answers, all emotion is gone from his voice. I haven't heard him like this in a long time, and it makes my heart pound in my chest. My breathing gets a little fast in anticipation.

"Rude, take him to the tent. Elena get the duct tape from the car."

Rude starts off, dragging the man by his ankle, as Elena runs toward Tseng's repainted company car.

"And grab my pliers, yo," I say. I'm still bleeding and Vincent moves toward me, but I make a motion with my hand that he understands from his days as a Turk. I haven't used our hand signals for years, but they come back to me easily.

"Do what you want to me," the guys screams, unresisting of the rough treatment. "My Lord will melt the flesh from your bones and pulverize your souls."

"Oh great, a religious freak. 'Laney, bring the whole toolbox, this is gonna get ugly, yo."

* * *

When Elena comes in with the toolbox, we secure him to a chair with the tape. Cloud stands just inside the tent flap. He doesn't say anything, so we don't acknowledge him.

Tseng takes up his place in front of the man. He has his hands clasped behind his back. With his newly cut hair held back in a snubbed off ponytail, I can almost pretend we're back to my second day of work when he and Rude trained me in this very skill.

I rummage through the box, trying to decide which will hurt more, ripping out his nails with the pliers, or… my hand closes around the handle of a framing hammer. It has a nice heft and the head is waffled. I let it fall into my palm without any power behind it; it leaves a crosshatch pattern on my skin. With a little effort it will shred flesh. I put it out, so it will be at hand, but I take up the pliers. The old standbys are always the best.

"Now, let's talk about your Lord," Tseng says.

"You'd like that wouldn't you," the man cackles. "But there is no place for you in his kingdom. When he rises and spews his message across this planet, all of you will writhe in agony and beg to be put down."

"And your Lord told you to attack the rescue efforts?"

"No, he called us to finish the work our brethren failed to complete. When the dogs of the Fort retaliated with Ifrit we had to fall back, but they burned themselves and aided our Lord's plans. It doesn't matter how many of us you defeat, our Lord's followers will swarm over this land and break open all the Mako reactors until this filthy world is reclaimed," he giggles.

"Go find Reeve," Tseng orders Elena. "Have him send troops to all the reactors." Elena must have Haste equipped because she's on her way before he stops speaking.

"What is your Lord called? What is your group?" Cloud asks from his spot. He is motionless, almost like a statue.

"You don't deserve to know his name," he answers. "But when he comes, I'll dance on the body of your dead loved one. I'll piss on your graves." He grins at me.

I make sure he's seen the pliers and then walk around behind him. I grab his wrist and twist so his fingers are pointing skyward. I slip the blades around his pinky nail and without warning, I rip upward. He screams, but does not answer.

"That was a small nail, yeah it hurt, but it just gets worse the larger the nail, yo," I say into his ear.

Cloud looks away, but does not protest. I take the nail off his ring finger next. He sobs. I look up to Tseng, who nods and the middle finger loses the nail. There's blood all over his hand and mine. I use my forearm to wipe the sweat from my brow.

"This can stop whenever you want it bad enough. If you're so proud of your Lord, introduce us to him."

"We," he pants, "We are the Men of the Malboro."

"Oh, Jenova," I say, "Why are the nuts always in love with monsters, yo?"

"Cloud, what do you want us to do with him?" Tseng asks. "His co-conspirators?"

"Give them to Reeve, so they can stand trial, and clear the former Shin-ra employees. This one… I don't really care what happens to him. He shot Denzel and Tifa; he would have killed her, if not for Reno. He threatened our families… frankly, I just want him to be someone else's problem and go away."

Tseng frowns, but nods. "Why don't you go back and help with the others. We'll clean up here," he says.

Cloud puts his sunglasses on and leaves without looking back.

"He's changed a lot." I get up from behind the guy; he's praying. It takes effort for me to drop the 'yo' from my words, but I want to distance myself from this incident as quickly as I can.

"He's left the awe shucks persona long behind," Rude says, and pushes me out of the way.

"Even a Junior Shin-ra recruit has to grow up eventually," Tseng agrees. He gives the hand signal and Rude snaps the guy's neck.

"That'll happen when you form a family to care about," I agree.

We bury the asshole in an unmarked spot in the midst of the victims' graves. It's too good for him, but it is convenient.

* * *

I'm in front of the sink, scrubbing dirt and blood from under my fingernails when Vincent catches up to me.

"Are you alright?" he asks.

"I'll survive, I always do."

"You're like a cat."

"All Turks are, yo." I groan when I realize I've let that word slip back into my speech.

He leans against me, pinning me to the sink, and he caresses my left arm with his gloved hand.

"At least the wound is shallow and didn't hit the ink."

"True," I respond. There is a hitch in my voice that I don't like, but I'm safe here with him. He kisses the back of my neck.

"You did what you had to do, but that's not you anymore," he tells me. He knows me so well that it's like he's reading my mind.

"Then why was it so easy to fall back into it?"

"It's conditioning, nothing more."

"It's more than that, I didn't care if I hurt him. He said…"

"Cloud told us what he said. You don't have to repeat it." He slides his hand down my arm to my elbow, but my hands are still in the sink. His hand leaves my arm and travels to my hip, where he squeezes me gently. He wraps his other arm around my stomach and pulls me against him, holding me. I lean forward a little, and cry into the sink.


	6. Chapter 6 - A Different Confrontation

The only people left on The Shera on our way back are the folks for Midgar (Cloud, Tifa, Denzel, Vincent and me), Kalm (Elena, Tseng, and Jade) and Rocket Town (Shera and Cid). I spend most of my time down on the lower enclosed observation deck, pretending to nap, but truthfully it is the easiest place for me to breath. He finds me and Vincent there on the last morning.

"Do you mind if I ask you a question?" Denzel says as I stand before the glass window and think about what I need to do once we get back to Edge.

"Only one?"

"I figure it would be best to start slow, since I feel like you go out of your way to avoid me."

Vincent is between me and the dead end and when I turn to look, Cloud is subtly blocking the exit by standing next to it, slumped against the wall like he doesn't want to be here. The clack of gold sabatons echoes on the planks as Vincent moves over to join him.

"I avoid everything that reminds me of my past, yo." I try to make it come out funny, maybe a little sarcastic, but it just sounds sad. I sigh. "Ask your question."

"Reno, you seem like a good guy…"

"Skip the flattery and get on with it."

"I want to know why you stayed with Shin-ra for so long and what made you leave." It's not the question I expect, so I'm quiet for much longer than I intend.

"Do you mind if I sit down?" I ask. He shrugs, so I find a patch of wall and slide down until I'm seated and then I bend my legs in, so that I can put pressure on my ribs. He sits next to me.

"Staying with Shin-ra…" he prompts, when I am quiet for too long.

"It's not common knowledge, but at one point this bimbo who used to work for Shin-ra – Scarlet was her name – ordered Tseng, Rude, and I to be exterminated. Rufus stepped in and brokered a deal – our lives for our absolute loyalty. I've always wondered if Rufus only made it seem like she wanted us dead so that we'd have to go for the deal."

"That's it? I'm disappointed."

"No, that was the beginning; there's more, I'm trying to figure out how to put it into words. Have you ever felt unloved? Not, 'I'm alone and no one's around to show me love,' but been surrounded by people who just didn't care about you, one way of another?"

"For a short time, after the Fall of Sector Seven, and before Cloud found me. I almost gave up and took my own life."

"I wasn't as lucky, instead of finding someone who cared about me, Shin-ra found me when I was at my lowest. I had burned a lot of bridges before then, and could honesty say there wasn't a person on this Planet that loved me. Then I met Rufus and I _thought_ he loved me. But I'd never known selfless love – the concept didn't exist for me until I met Vincent – and I equated the fact that he enjoyed having sex with me with love. I was so desperate that even when he ordered us to do horrible things, I stayed so that he would love me."

"But the person sitting next to me, how did he do those things?"

"The first thing that happens to a potential Shin-ra employee is that they are injected with Mako. It didn't matter that I was recruited as a Turk, if I had had a good reaction to Jenova's cells, I would have gone straight into Soldiers, but I didn't, and I got to start my trainin' as a Turk. The first thing the Turks teach you is to disassociate, but then again, I'd been doing that for years without knowing it."

I put my hand up to my mouth to cover a cough, but Vincent's sharp ears hear it, and he stares at me until I acknowledge that I'm fine.

"What does that mean?"

"I don't know if there's anything you had to do after the Fall of Midgar that you're not proud of, Denzel –"

"Of course there were."

"But the normal human reaction is to debate it, do what you have to in order to survive, and then feel guilty about it afterward. Turks were trained to skip the debate, become someone else for the duration, and then drink later to forget it happened. So, that ruthless asshole who did all those abhorrent things was my way of coping with it."

"And why did you stop? Why did you leave?"

"There's only some much booze in the world, and eventually the nightmare and the screams of the dead couldn't be muffled anymore. I left shortly after the end of Geostigma when Rufus ordered Tseng to do some stupid shit assignment – I don't even remember what it was – but Jade was ill and he didn't want to leave Elena and a sick three-year-old alone. Tseng wanted me to stay with them, but I took the mission instead. Back in the day, Tseng was in charge, I was second in-command, Rude came next, and 'Laney was the rookie. It seemed natural that if Tseng didn't want to do it, I should, as his subordinate."

"That makes sense."

"Rufus found out and was fuckin' furious. He had wanted Tseng to go because of his 'high public relation's value' and that 'sending slum trash who always looked like he'd just woken up after a hard night of drinking and a one-night stand' wasn't going to help convince the world Shin-ra had changed."

"That sounds like a direct quote."

"Yup, and it's one I'll never forget. He told us to stop thinking, and do exactly what he told us to from now on if we wanted Shin-ra to regain its place in the world."

"Wow, what an asshole."

"None of us had stayed because it was Shin-ra. We'd stayed for him, and his vision of atoning for the evils we'd committed. Shit, that's the reason most people came back to work for him. Anyway, we were all there during his lecture. Tseng didn't say a word; he took his ID badge and dropped it on Rufus' desk. We all stood there for a second, then Elena took off her badge. I remember Rude looking at me, with this 'what do we do now' look.

"Rude had been with Shin-ra since he'd turned sixteen; I'd been there since I was fourteen. Being Turks was really all we knew how to do, but as I heard Tseng's steady footsteps receding without hesitation or regret, Rufus said something that I'll never forget: 'You'd better run, Tseng, because the three of you will be dead by the end of the week.'"

"Holy Jenova, he had big stones."

"He really did, but a small dick." I cough again, and hide it inside a laugh.

"Thank you _so much_ for that image," he says.

"Tseng and Elena were close enough to turn around and shoot him in the head, but they didn't. Rufus laughed, and then turned to us and said, 'You know what you have to do.'"

"He expected you to kill them?"

"Like dogs," I tell Denzel. "I said to him, 'I sure do.' Then I took off my badge, and threw it in his face. Rude took a few more seconds, but he came with us, 'cause ultimately, you threaten one of us, you threaten all of us. Rufus went to Reeve and bought protection from the WRO in exchange for information about hidden Shin-ra stashes, but Rufus was dead six weeks later. I'm pretty sure Tseng did him, it was a clean hit, nothing left behind to trace, but that's my theory. We don't speak about him anymore, and no one cared enough to investigate his murder."

"And then you became a good guy, one of us."

"I freelanced for Reeve for a while because, yeah, he was doing the good work that Rufus had been pretending to do, but eventually, I wanted to just be an ordinary person. I know I don't deserve what I've gotten, well except the tumor in my lung – that I deserve – but I wouldn't trade anything that happened, because then I wouldn't be who I am now."

"You have cancer? How?"

"Over-exposure of Mako."

"Then you shouldn't have come to Fort Condor."

"I used a Barrier Materia the whole time. It was draining, but I'll take any opportunity to atone for what I've done." I shrug, and get up. I feel like I'm going to throw up and I don't want to do it in front of anyone.

"We done here, kiddo? Are you satisfied, or do you want to pitch me over the side?"

"I'm going to need to think about it, actually. Can I get back to you on that?"

"I'll be waiting."


	7. Chapter 7 - Home Again

"I feel like all my energy went away with my ponytail," I tell Vincent as we pull up and put the truck in the garage.

"And you'll be even more tired if you look at the mess in your workshop. Just go upstairs and pretend you don't see it until tomorrow."

"I can do that," I wink. "I just hope our bed is clean-ish. I want you naked in it, right away. I've been wanting to play with your hair all week."

He grins and we go upstairs, leaving our packs in the truck. The place isn't horrible when the open the door, but everything is different. There are new dishes in the strainer by the sink, and glasses I certainly would have never bought. Everything is a little too clean and out of place. It feels… alien, like we've taken our things and moved into someone else's space.

I open the liquor cabinet and there's a single bottle of Tidal Wave. "Can we send them a bill for all the liquor they destroyed?"

"Not unless you happen to have receipts for all that alcohol," he says from in front of the bookshelf. Where a hundred volumes once lived, only a handful survive. He looks at what's left and frowns.

In the bedroom, there is plywood over one window. "I don't remember that happening," I say.

He switches the light on, and this room, at least, is still an oasis in the strangeness. Our bed is made and it makes me laugh.

"What's so funny?"

"Have we made the bed in the ten years we've had it?"

"I tried for the first few months, but you rubbed off on me."

"It was sweet of Kia and Nico to do this for us."

"Yes, we should do something nice for them."

I sit on my side of the bed and undo my shoelaces. He hangs up his cape. All of our clothing is back on hangers, even though my stuff is usually on the floor. The sabatons go under the bed, the gauntlet comes off, then his shirt and pants. He climbs on the bed and lays on one side.

"I'm naked in our bed," he purrs. "Now what, Reno?"

* * *

Every noise in the middle of the night wakes me, even the normal traffic on the road behind us makes me nervous. Most of the time, Vincent only sleeps after we have sex, and tonight's no different. I get out of bed without waking him, which means he's exhausted, and I go out into the main room to pace. The couch is in the wrong spot, so I move it over about six inches. The tables go with it, and that feels a little bit better.

There's nothing fresh in the ice box, so I make a list of what I'll want at the market tomorrow. I'm antsy, like I'm waiting for something horrible to happen again. I've never been this uncomfortable in my own home before, but all I can think of is the last time I slept here and was pulled from my bed like a common thief. What will prevent anyone from doing so again? The WRO will only be here for so long. What happens when they leave? Who the hell ratted us out the first time? Or is it all some grand conspiracy? My mind can find no rest.

I go downstairs and find that my last project – a lighted display mirror for the 7th Heaven – is gone and most of my raw supplies are as well. It's actually neater in the shop than it's been in years. I pick up an electrical board and some wire. I heat up the soldering iron and think only about making connections.

* * *

The coughing starts again one night at dinner when I laugh too hard at one of Nanaki's jokes and aspirate the wine I'm drinking. It doesn't stop and Vincent takes me straight to Healin Lodge. They suggest making me comfortable in a dry climate as I wait to die, but I've been sick for so long now that I won't consider giving up, and instead we fly to Mideel for a second opinion.

It's not good. Really, really not good. Even activating every time it recharges, Regen is only just keeping me alive. The pain radiates up and down the right side of my chest and is so all-encompassing that the Sleep spells can only knock me out for an hour at a time. I have Megalixir in an IV drip straight into my arm to keep my HP and MP up in a desperate attempt to keep me sane as I wait for the surgeon to finish preparation and slice into me to extract the dying tissue. They're not sure if they'll have to take part, or all, of my right lung. I'd rip it out myself if I could, but I'm far too weak.

Vincent stands in the corner of the room, watching me as if I'll evaporate back into the Lifestream any second, while Nanaki lies in the bed next to me, his warm head on my chest. The compression and the heat make me feel better.

"I wish," Shera says, gulping back her tears, "that I didn't waste so many years hating you."

"Doesn't matter," I say around the mask over my nose and mouth. I know it's hard to understand me, but the pure oxygen makes it easier for me to breathe, and I'm too tired to keep moving it back and forth. "Love you, Sher."

She runs from the room.

Tseng and Elena come as well, but Jade sees me from the door and refused to come in.

"Tell her: Uncle Reno doesn't blame her."

He nods. The long sentence takes a lot out of me and I have to close my eyes. Elena kisses my forehead, Tseng squeezes my hand, and then they leave.

Rude comes in quietly and stares at me for a few minutes before saying anything. "You always have to have all the attention, don't you, partner?"

"You love it," I laugh, and the coughing starts again. Nurses rush in and force him out, leaving only Vincent and Nanaki, who moves to my feet. They must be afraid to ask him to leave, which is too funny. He's too sweet to be scary. I use the button to raise the head of the bed, and I can breathe a little easier.

"Remember your promise, Vincent." He won't look at me. "You don't come after me until Nanaki's gone, too. You promised me, dammit."

"That was before I knew you were sick."

"Those were our wedding vows, asshole," I say, letting my anger show.

"I won't let him, Reno," Nanaki says. "I'll make him keep his promise." He hides his eyes under his paws.

"Don't howl for me, I'm not dead yet."

"Promise me you'll fight today, and you'll keep fighting, Reno, as long and as hard as you can," Vincent says as he finally perches on the side of the bed. I reach for his hand, aware that my finger is missing my wedding ring in preparation for the surgery. He meets me more than half way, and when our hands are clasped, I feel that he is wearing my ring on his pinky.

"I promise," I say, as another coughing fit racks my body. Blood comes into my mouth, splattering against the inside of the mask. I grab Vincent's collar and pull myself upright, trying to find a breath. He holds me there, panic in his eyes. My lungs are filling with liquid; I'm drowning. _This is not how I wanted to go._

Alarms go off, the nurses rush in, and before I can say goodbye to him, tell him I love him, and would marry him all over again, I hear someone say, "sleep" and a green light takes me away.


	8. Chapter 8 - Flowers

Sorry this wasn't posted on Tuesday like normal, but yesterday was crazy! Anyway, this is the final chapter of Phoenix Down, the story will continue in "Limit Break" - coming next week! Make sure you follow me if you want to get notices when the story comes out. Thanks for reading.

* * *

I'm lying on my left side in a bed of lilies in Aerith's old church in the Sector Five Slums. I can breathe easily and smell the flowers, but I'm paralyzed. Oddly enough, none of this bothers me. A beautiful redhead woman sits crossed legged by my head. She soothes me, petting my hair. Her face is blurry, but I don't remember Aerith ever wearing black.

"This length looks good on ya, Reno. It's just like when ya were a little boy." Her voice is just like I remember it when I was twelve years old. I try to speak her name, but nothing comes out.

"Hang in there, little bro," Karina says. She looks concerned. "You've got a tough choice ta make and ya don't have a lot of time. So listen up: you can fight or you can flee. You've always been a fighter, and there are people rootin' for you this time. It won't be easy, but you're not alone. You've got Shera ta protect ya this time. And where in Gaia did ya find a hot guy like Vincent Valentine? Ya lucky bastard. Shit, if I were you, I'd live through the pain for that ass, yo!"

 _I'm fightin', Karina,_ I want to shout, but again nothing comes out. She nods as if she knows anyway.

"Keep fightin', Reno," she says. She touches my chest and the pain fades just a little. She disappears.

"Thank you for making him happy," says a new voice. I don't recognize the brown-haired woman in front of me. She has beautiful, sad eyes.

 _Who are you?_ I want to ask.

"I'm the one who made Vincent so unhappy. Thank you for allowing him to love you so fiercely, for being unafraid."

 _Lucrecia…_

"Yes, and you've fought for him when I wouldn't. Thank you for always putting him first. He's fighting for you, right this moment – don't make him struggle in vain. When you make it back, tell him: I'm sorry, and that I wish him all the happiness on the Planet." She also touches my chest and I feel even better.

Of all the people I expect to see, Rufus is perhaps the only one I don't want to talk to at all.

"So, you found somebody else," he says, scornfully, standing over me, his hands on his hips. "All that damn whining about love, and Valentine of all people: two freaks who deserve each other. Did you even wait for my body to get cold? Of course you did, but you know what? I never cared about you, Reno. On this side or back there, you'll always be trash parading as class." He walks away without touching me.

"Reno," Aerith says, "it's time to wake up. Everyone is waiting on you, but it has to be your decision, I can't make it for you, and neither can Vincent; we've done all we can. Your life will be filled with pain and love – you can't avoid either one – or you can stay here in the flowers forever, and leave love behind with the pain. Which will you choose?"

She gestures to the water that's pooled around me, in it I see Vincent. He's holding my hand, his head is bowed as his lips move in a quiet prayer. "Wake up, Reno, please don't leave me. Fight, damn you, you promised."

The pain returns, spreading like wildfire over my chest. I gulp for breath, but it hitches with only a wisp of air in my lung. That's it, that's all I'll ever have; it feels like the air is being squeezed out of me quicker than I can take it in.

"You've been forgiven, Reno. So, which do you pick?" Aerith asks me.

"Vincent..." I push his name out with the little air I have. He's there, looming above me, he pulls my eyelids down; I shy away as black sparkles fill the air. Then I… sleep.

* * *

My world is a microcosm of agony; I pull up my legs and try to roll onto my right side, but strong hands push me back.

"Guarding is a very bad thing," a woman says, but I don't know her voice and I don't care what she says; I fight her.

"Reno!" Vincent's voice cuts through the pain. "Put your legs down or they're going to restrain you."

I'm panting, trying to fill my lung up, and his voice is the only thing I can hear. Only he can convince me that I can't roll up into a ball and die; I uncurl as much as I dare.

"Reno," he says. "That's right, relax, I'm here." I open my scrunched shut eyes and he is there, right in my face, his hands on both cheeks so I have to look directly at him. There is nothing else in the world but him and the pain.

"It hurts, Vin –" I don't have enough air to finish his name, so I gulp more "– cent."

"Can you give him something for the pain?" He turns away to ask someone behind him, but then he's there again, his dark red eyes reflecting my pain.

"Try to get him to stop panting. If I can assess him properly, I'll prescribe more pain relievers."

"You heard him, right? Slow, deep breaths. It may hurt, it may seem counter intuitive, but that one lung should take just as long to fill up as it used to. You've got to get through this panic, Reno, and then you can have medicine."

Slow he says, deep he says. So I close my eyes. Something cold touches my bare chest.

"Stay with me, Reno." I nod my head, but I don't open my eyes. I close my mouth and breathe as deep as I can through my nose, and I do it as slowly as I can. When I get to the end of it, I hold that breath and open my eyes. All I see in his eyes is hope, and that makes me slowly release the breath. He starts breathing again, too.

"Perfect, Reno." He leans in and kisses me, just a quick peck on the lips.

"His lung sounds excellent. I'll increase the dosage for the next two hours." Vincent grins, and then things get a little blurry at the edges.

"She said," I start and take another breath, "She said I'd have to pick between love and pain here with you, or wait on the other side. I picked you."

"Who told you that?" he asks.

"Aerith."

"And then _she_ came and told me you were fighting."

"Aerith, was always a fighter. She would know."

"No, not Aerith, Lucrecia."

"You never knew her…" He thinks I'm confused.

"When she came, she told me her name, said she's sorry, said she wants you to be happy."

"The other side is a strange place," he says.

"I saw Karina and Rufus, too."

He bites his lip. "They had to give you four Phoenix Downs. Your heart stopped four times on the table, but I kept fighting for you. Even when they told me letting you die would be a mercy, I fought for you."

"Thank you," I whisper.

* * *

Through trial and error, I find that sitting at a ninety-five degree angle hurts the least, so I'm sitting up eating ice chips when the doctor comes in.

"Your vitals have stabilized and your color has improved. It's now time for you to get up and walk. We can't have you coming through the surgery, just to throw a blood clot and die during your recovery."

"Walk where?" I ask, my voice is still only a whisper, but I can get through more words in a single sentence now.

"Out the door, down the hall and back again, on your own, mind you. We'll be there to catch you, but you have to make it on your own. This hallway will be your best friend, because when you can get up and back at a reasonable speed, I'll send you home."

I'm the last room on the hallway, but I'm not sure how long the hall is to begin with. Vincent eyes are drawn and bloodshot; he's fighting sleep. "I guess I'm gonna have to pee soon anyway, so I might as well get started," I say. Maybe he'll rest when I get past this milestone.

"You've been peeing for two days now." The doctor smirks and that makes me like him better, until I realize what that means. I pull back the sheet and see the tubes snaking out from under my gown.

"Son of a bitch," I mutter, but since the sheets are gone, I've got no more excuses. I move my legs over the side of the bed and sort of unfold from the seated position. I grab hold of the bed as the world spins a little. Vincent rushes to me.

"Mr. Valentine, step back. I know it's difficult. You've been on your own for a while, but you are exhausted and we're ready to help him from here. You'll be his primary care provider for the rest of his life; allow us to take the burden for this moment." I look up at him, when I hear that word. _I won't be a burden! Not now, not ever._

"He'll never be a burden."

"You look dead tired," I manage to say. "Sit down, Vincent, so I can stop worryin' about ya." Dragging the the pole on wheels with the IV and piss bag with me, I make it to the door before I have to cling to the jam and wait for the world to stop spinning again.

"You're doing great Reno, just take your time," the doctor coaches. He's right beside me, his hands open and ready to catch me. I know it can't be Vincent right now, he's too likely to help me cheat, but I don't trust this stranger. After a while, I turn and look down the hall. The far side might as well be as far from me as Midgar is from Kalm.

"Now, before he's cleared to leave," the doctor is telling Vincent, who has still refused to sit down, "you'll need to think about a new place to live."

"No stairs," I say, thinking about how hard it has been to move five steps.

"Not just that, but you need to get out of Midgar completely. The air quality is so foul there, I would have recommended he leave as soon as he was diagnosed. The Mako contamination in that city alone did more damage to his lungs than any one other thing. The left one isn't spotless; he needs to be somewhere far away from Mako reactors, preferably in a warm, dry climate."

"Costa del Sol?" I suggest hopefully.

"A good place to vacation in the dry season, but not for everyday living," the doctor denies my suggestion.

"Cosmo Canyon," Nanaki says. I look back to see he's under my bed. "The house next door to mine is for sale. It's bigger than your current place."

"Cosmo Canyon," I agree, and take the first step into the hall.


End file.
